North Star Asset Management Inc. Has $12.74 Million Stock Holdings in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,117 shares of the CRM provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,205 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Salesforce were worth $12,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,473 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $236,000. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,321,000. Jag Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 2,507.9% in the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 23,706 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $7,926,000 after purchasing an additional 22,797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,861,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $310.00 to $255.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group set a $350.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Salesforce from $335.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.59.

Salesforce Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $273.05 on Friday. Salesforce, Inc. has a 12-month low of $212.00 and a 12-month high of $369.00. The company has a market cap of $262.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.91, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $268.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $306.58.

Salesforce Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Salesforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Salesforce’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.10%.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In related news, insider Miguel Milano sold 458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.97, for a total value of $141,050.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,805,936.08. This trade represents a 7.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Parker Harris sold 3,273 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total transaction of $931,430.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 125,146 shares in the company, valued at $35,614,048.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,011 shares of company stock valued at $13,038,373 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Salesforce Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.